Imperial Oil CEO opposes Alberta’s separation from Canada — OilPrice
In Canada, Imperial Oil CEO John Whelan has spoken out against the separation of the province of Alberta. Imperial Oil became the first major energy company in the province to publicly state its position on the separatist movement, OilPrice reports, citing the Financial Post and Bloomberg.
Imperial Oil’s position
At a conference in Calgary, Whelan said that as a national company, Imperial Oil believes a united Canada is the strongest position for overcoming future challenges and seizing opportunities. According to him, Canada and Alberta work best when people, goods, energy and investments can move freely and reliably across the country.
Imperial Oil is a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil. The company operates the Kearl oil sands, an in-situ production facility at Cold Lake, as well as refineries in Alberta and Ontario. Whelan also supported Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s production targets. Under favorable tax and regulatory conditions, he said, Imperial could double gross production at the facilities it operates and develop additional biofuel production.
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Vote and assessments
On October 19, Alberta is set to hold a vote on granting the provincial government the authority to seek a binding referendum on independence. This will be a procedural question rather than a direct vote on Alberta leaving Canada.
A government-commissioned study by the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy examined two scenarios. Under a smooth-transition scenario, Alberta’s GDP would decline by 2.2% in the short term but would be 3.4% higher in the long term than if the province remained part of Canada. A difficult transition, according to the researchers’ estimate, would mean a GDP decline of 10.1% in the short term and 16.2% in the long term. Provincial authorities estimated the costs of the first five years at $50–170 billion, of which $40–55 billion would be initial costs.
Other executives of Alberta energy companies have not publicly expressed the same position against separatism. Cenovus Energy CEO Jon McKenzie previously said that separatist sentiment is linked to real grievances and could weaken if they are addressed. ATCO CEO Nancy Southern called the discussion of separatism “very unhelpful.” According to recent polls, most Alberta residents do not support separation.
